January Reads -new year, new books

[Knight of Ashes]

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

[Datepalm]

I finshed the Prague Cemetary, by Umberto Eco - a fairly tedious slog, for the most part. Theres some flashes of interest, but mostly it just drags along with similar people being similarly oily at eachother for hundreds of pages. It's, I suspect, meticulously researched about late 19th century anti-semitic literature, and all of it is on the page - what article was cribbed from what booked was translated into what pamphlet - not to mention the actual contents of said anti-semitic lit. I think it's supposed to be kind of verve-y and wacky, dude-history-was-crazy!, going something for the tone of Neal Stephenson on a good day, but it just falls desperately short.

Also finished Riveted, Meljean Brooks, which was actually a perfectly enjoyable steampunk romance which seems to avoid the pitfalls of almost every other romance novel i've ever read and almost never made me cringe. (well, the sex scenes might have, but I haven't run into a sex scene since the Viking Vampire Angel book that seems like anything but tamely tasteful, including the French Satanist orgy in the Prague Cemetery.) The worldbuilding and plot are gloriously pulpy (Brooks does excellent mad scientist) and the romance actually has something interesting in terms of characterization going for it other than "these two people, at first they don't, but then they do, shag."

[Isis]

=Just finished The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. This book sets the bar nice and high for my top reads of 2013. It's a story of grief, and depression, and love, and the rekindling of a marriage, and parenthood. Oh, and there's a magical mystery too. And the dark white of a northern winter. Honestly, I can't find a single flaw. Perhaps I'm at the right stage in my creeping childless middle-age to receive this novel. I can't find a flaw... the balance between realism and magic is perfect.

I just finished this too. :) What a beautiful novel. Sparse prose. Harsh and stunning scenery. But so full of love and tenderness - it's really hard not to have your heartstrings tugged. I loved it.

ETA: Now back to Dhalgren, which I am 10% into and not feeling at all. Not sure how much more I can stand. There is just nothing there that I can enjoy. I'll persevere a while longer.

[3CityApache]

Jeez, and how come an ebook of The Snow Child on Amazon is more expensive than a paperback?

[mashiara]

Just finished The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. This book sets the bar nice and high for my top reads of 2013. It's a story of grief, and depression, and love, and the rekindling of a marriage, and parenthood. Oh, and there's a magical mystery too. And the dark white of a northern winter. Honestly, I can't find a single flaw. Perhaps I'm at the right stage in my creeping childless middle-age to receive this novel. I can't find a flaw... the balance between realism and magic is perfect.

I just finished this too. :) What a beautiful novel. Sparse prose. Harsh and stunning scenery. But so full of love and tenderness - it's really hard not to have your heartstrings tugged. I loved it.

So glad to read this from both of you! I bought this a couple of weeks ago, I'm thinking it should be my very next read, after such praise.

[Opisthokont]

This month:

A Memory of Light by Jordan/Sanderson. A satisfying end, if a little battle-heavy. I started reading The Eye of the World more than 20 years ago. Feels weird that it's finished.

Feersum Endjinn by Iain M Banks. Werd but OK. Rids mor lyk fantasy than syans fikshun, and I wud ev lykd mor diteild deskripshuns of both thi kript and thi enkroachmint. The fonetikel speling was fun.

Europe in the Neolithic by Alasdair Whittle. A 370 page survey of what I assume are all major cultures, sites, and types of buildings and artifacts mixed with tonnes of interpretation and speculation about how and why the different changes in lifestyle and ritual came about. Whittle is very insistant that neolithic society was based on cooperation and hospitality rather than competition, and that new technology and culture mostly came through cultural exchange rather than immigration or invasion. I have no idea how credible this is since I have learnt everything I know about archaeology from Tony Robinson. Knowing nothing about archaeology made this a really hard read, but I just barged through and hoped that at least some facts would stick in my brain through sheer osmosis.

[Starkess]

I stalled out at the end of the first part and still haven't finished - waiting until I have time and attention span.

Using the patronymic is like you would say Mr or Mrs. Like, you'd call your teacher Alexei Fydorovich or whatever, instead of saying Mr. Smith. And specific nicknames go with specific names, it's just not always obvious. If there were a character named Elizabeth and when she was speaking to a friend, they called her Liz, you'd understand who was being referred to, right? Even though Liz doesn't really look like Elizabeth and if you weren't familiar with English names, you'd have to keep looking at the name real closely to remember.

I know there's a logic to it, and sometimes I can even see it, but it's just frustrating coming at it from a language I am not familiar with. And everyone and their brother is a Prince!

[thistlepong]

Finished Out of the Silent Planet yesterday and am at least looking forward to Perelandra now. Finally read "In the Matter of Fallen Angels," by Jacqueline Carey, which isn't a book, but I'd totally read that voice for a few hundred pages. And (re)read Finder: Talisman by Carla Speed McNeil, which is lovely.

[NewsToTom]

I read a whole passel of relevant works in January. In terms of my intended reading, I did finish Gordon Wood's Empire of Liberty (about 90% as good as I expected, which was very, very good). I delayed War and Peace (and Lieven's Russia Against Napoleon, which I plan to read concurrently with W&P) to this month.

As noted in the book's thread, I finished Peter F. Hamilton's Great North Road, which I found to be a very Peter F. Hamilton book, with the attendant strengths and weaknesses that implies.

I re-read Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age, which I first read a little over 9 years ago. I once again enjoyed it, mostly for the world he created, but this is the one book where I agree pretty strongly with the critique that Stephenson's books tend to have very unsatisfying endings.

I can respect Murakami's Norwegian Wood as a literary work, but found it duller than dishwater and not the book for me. It was my first Murakami and won't deter me from trying others, but it did make me less enthusiastic for the prospect.

I also finished Bernard Cornwell's 1356, which I enjoyed (a) for what it was and (.b.) because it was more or less a standalone work as opposed to the start of a new series.

My reading plan for February is centered around War and Peace, which I'll start sometime within the couple days. What else I read this month depends on how quickly that proceeds.